once we resolve the cliff, we need long-term fiscal reduction so that businesses can climb to the future. to get families and businesses certainty, we must agree in the next few weeks on specific spending cuts and specific revenue increases that reduce the deficit to avoid the fiscal cliff. we should not put off the hard decisions with gimmicks or with triggers. that is what got us here in the first place. it is time to bite the bullet and make the tough decisions and make them now. the first thing we should do is immediately and permanently extend the middle-class tax cuts. this will provide needed certainty to america's families and businesses and markets. this decisive action will ensure millions of american families do not see a tax hike of more than $2,000 starting next month. any agreement must also include a long-term extension of the debt ceiling. america cannot afford another debilitating fiscal showdown. has to be a package deal. then we need to enact a long term and, granted the solution. the most serious plan to recommend $4 trillion in deficit reductions over 10 years to res